It is typical that in some sections of the international media, the absence of any announcements about new contracts at the end of President Jacques Chirac’s state visit is taken to mean that somehow the visit was not the success that France at least wanted. That is to misunderstand the visit. This was not a trade mission, though of course areas of mutual commercial interest will have been discussed and partnerships charted or consolidated; there will be future results, future announcements.
The visit has to be seen against a wider backdrop. Saudi Arabia and France have long been friends; Chirac’s visit is testimony both to that and to a personal friendship between him and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, forged two years ago when the king paid an official visit to France. It is not just a matter of Saudis importing French products or holidaying in France, although there is plenty of that. Military and defense links, for example, are of the highest importance, especially the development of the Saudi Navy. These will expand.
It is, however, at the political level that the relationship is at its most effective and productive. That, in many respects, is due to the views of the French president himself. He has shown himself, time and again, a supporter of both stability and justice in the Arab world. From the outset he has been a firm supporter of the king’s Middle East peace plan and for the need for Israel to make uncomfortable changes. It is no accident that as a result it regards France with open fury, constantly accusing it of being “anti-Semitic”, claiming the French authorities regularly ignore attacks on French Jews. The allegations are a deliberate lie. France balances a foreign policy strongly sympathetic to Palestinian aspirations yet supporting Israel’s right to exist within secure, pre-1967 borders, with a rigorous clampdown on anti-Jewish attacks at home whether from the far right or by French Muslim youths.
This balanced approach on the Palestinian issue would be enough to ensure respect for France in Arab eyes but it is not the only reason. No one can forget France’s firm and principled stand against invading Iraq. Currently, France is actively involved in the effort to prevent nuclear proliferation in the region.
These are very much Chirac policies, to be personally associated with him. If only George Bush or Tony Blair had such a clear understanding of the needs and tensions in the Middle East, of the urgency for a Palestinian state, not at some undefined future date but now, today, who were willing to say that support for Israel, if fundamental, is not unconditional. France stands out in the West in its relationship with the Middle East as a beacon of political intelligence and integrity. It was not always thus, but it has been for many years and that is what is important.
Of course, as with all friendships, there are times when those involved do not quite see things eye to eye. But such differences are more than balanced by a fundamental respect for each other’s ways of doing things — and that is the basis of any lasting friendship.
